- Source
- Diodorus Siculus. Diodori Bibliotheca Historica. Vols. 4-5 (partial). Bekker, Immanuel; Dindorf, Ludwig; Fischer, Curt Theodor; editors. Leipzig: Teubner, 1903-1906.
- Translation
- AI-generated (gemini-3.5-flash) — machine translation; may contain errors
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- 日本語 · English · 简体中文 · 한국어
- CTS URN
- urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0060.tlg001.humanitext-grc6:19.45.1-19.45.8
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-09
This section describes the catastrophic third flood in Rhodes, detailing the damage caused by the city's topography and infrastructure, and how the city narrowly escaped total destruction when the wall burst open.
κατὰ δὲ τούτους τοὺς χρόνους συνέβη γενέσθαι περὶ τὴν Ῥοδίων πόλιν τὸν τρίτον κατακλυσμόν, ὃς πολλοὺς τῶν ἐνοικούντων διέφθειρεν. ὧν ὁ μὲν πρῶτος ὀλίγα τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ἐνώχλησεν, ὡς ἂν τῆς πόλεως οὔσης1 νεοκτίστου καὶ διὰ τοῦτο πολλὴν εὐρυχωρίαν ἐχούσης, ὁ δὲ δεύτερος μείζων ἐγένετο καὶ πλείω σώματα διέφθειρεν. ὁ δὲ τελευταῖος ἐπέπεσε μὲν ἔαρος ἀρχομένου, καταρραγέντων ἐξαίφνης μεγάλων ὄμβρων καὶ χαλάζης ἀπίστου τὸ μέγεθος· μνααῖαι γὰρ ἔπιπτον, ἔστι δʼ ὅτε καὶ μείζους, ὥστε πολλὰς μὲν τῶν οἰκιῶν συμπίπτειν διὰ τὸ βάρος, οὐκ ὀλίγους δὲ καὶ τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἀπόλλυσθαι·
At this time, there happened to occur around the city of the Rhodians the third flood, which destroyed many of the inhabitants. Of these, the first troubled the people but little, as would be expected since the city was newly founded and for this reason possessed much open space, while the second was greater and destroyed more lives. The last fell upon them at the beginning of spring, when great rains had suddenly burst forth and hail of unbelievable size; for hailstones of a mina’s weight were falling, and sometimes even larger, so that many of the houses collapsed because of the weight, and not a few of the people perished;
θεατροειδοῦς δʼ οὔσης τῆς Ῥόδου καὶ τὰς ἐγκλίσεις τῶν ὑδάτων κατὰ τὸ πλεῖστον εἰς ἕνα τόπον ποιουμένης εὐθὺς τὰ ταπεινὰ τῆς πόλεως ἐπληροῦτο, τῶν μὲν ὀχετῶν διὰ τὸ δοκεῖν παρεληλυθέναι τὸν χειμῶνα κατημελημένων, τῶν δʼ ἐν τοῖς τείχεσιν ὀβελίσκων2 συμφραχθέντων.
and since Rhodes was shaped like a theatre and made the slopes of the waters for the most part toward one place, immediately the low parts of the city were filled, as the sewers had been neglected because winter was thought to have passed, and the drains in the walls had become choked.
τοῦ δʼ ὕδατος παραδόξως ἀθροιζομένου πᾶς μὲν ὁ περὶ τὸ δεῖγμα καὶ Διονύσιον τόπος ἐπεπλήρωτο, πρὸς δὲ τὸ Ἀσκληπιεῖον ἤδη τοῦ λιμνάζοντος τόπου προσιόντος ἐκπλαγεῖς μὲν ἦσαν ἅπαντες, πρὸς δὲ τὴν σωτηρίαν διαφόροις ἐχρῶντο κρίσεσιν.
As the water accumulated unexpectedly, the entire area around the Deigma and the Dionysium was filled, and when the flooded area was already approaching the Asclepieium, everyone was struck with terror, and they resorted to different decisions for their safety.
οἱ μὲν γὰρ αὐτῶν εἰς τὰ πλοῖα συνέφυγον, οἱ δʼ ἐπὶ τὸ θέατρον ἀνέδραμον, τινὲς δὲ τῶν περικαταλαμβανομένων ὑπὸ τοῦ δεινοῦ διαποροῦντες ἐπὶ τοὺς ὑψηλοτάτους βωμοὺς καὶ τὰς τῶν ἀνδριάντων βάσεις προσανέβησαν.
For some of them fled to the ships, others ran up to the theatre, and some of those who were being overtaken by the danger, in their helplessness, climbed up onto the highest altars and the bases of statues.
κινδυνευούσης δὲ τῆς πόλεως ἄρδην μετὰ τῶν κατοικούντων ἀπολέσθαι βοήθειά τις αὐτόματος ἐγένετο· τοῦ γὰρ τείχους ῥαγέντος ἐπὶ πολὺν τόπον ἐξέπεσε ταύτῃ τὸ συνεστηκὸς ὕδωρ εἰς τὴν θάλασσαν καὶ ταχὺ πάλιν ἕκαστος εἰς τὴν προϋπάρχουσαν τάξιν ἀποκατέστη.
And while the city was in danger of being utterly destroyed along with its inhabitants, a certain spontaneous help occurred; for when the wall burst open over a great space, the accumulated water rushed out through this into the sea, and quickly everyone returned again to their former condition.
συνήργησε δὲ τοῖς κινδυνεύουσι καὶ τὸ μεθʼ ἡμέραν γενέσθαι τὸν κατακλυσμόν· οἱ γὰρ πλεῖστοι φθάσαντες3 ἐξεπήδησαν ἐκ τῶν οἰκιῶν εἰς τοὺς μετεώρους τόπους τῆς πόλεως· πρὸς δὲ τούτοις τὸ μὴ πλινθίνας εἶναι4 τὰς οἰκίας, ἀλλὰ λιθίνας καὶ διὰ τοῦτο τοὺς ἐπὶ τὰ στέγη καταφυγόντας ἀσφαλῶς διασωθῆναι.
It also helped those in danger that the flood occurred during the day; for most of them, acting in time, leaped out from their houses to the high places of the city; and in addition to this, the fact that the houses were not of brick, but of stone, and for this reason those who fled to the roofs were safely preserved.
ὅμως δὲ τηλικούτων ἀτυχημάτων γενομένων σώματα μὲν διεφθάρη πλείω τῶν πεντακοσίων, οἰκίαι δὲ αἱ μὲν τελέως ἔπεσον, αἱ δὲ διεσείσθησαν. καὶ τὰ μὲν περὶ τὴν Ῥόδον συμβάντα τοιοῦτον ἔσχε τὸν κίνδυνον.
Nevertheless, although such great disasters occurred, more than five hundred lives were destroyed, and of the houses, some completely fell, while others were shaken. And such was the danger that attended the events in Rhodes.
- 19.45.1ὡς ἂν τῆς πόλεως οὔσης
The conjunction ὡς accompanied by the particle ἄν with the participle οὔσης (in a genitive absolute construction) expresses a hypothetical or potential cause, meaning 'as would be expected since...'
- 19.45.3ὀβελίσκων
Usually meaning 'spits' or 'obelisks', here in this architectural context it refers to the 'drainage outlets' or 'water-spouts' built into the city walls.
- 19.45.7φθάσαντες
The participle form of the verb φθάνω ('to anticipate', 'to do beforehand') is used absolutely (without an object or another participle), meaning 'acting in time' or 'before it was too late'.
- 19.45.7τὸ μὴ πλινθίνας εἶναι
An articular infinitive phrase coordinated with the prepositional phrase πρὸς δὲ τούτοις ('and in addition to this'), functioning as a noun phrase ('the fact of not being...') that forms part of the subject of the main verb συνήργησε ('helped').